unnatural selection
by FlightOrFight
Summary: Sometimes, Ichigo hates life. Most times, life hates him back. Or the one where Ichigo has to deal with an alien invasion.
1. Chapter 1

**Unnatural Selection**

It's a Tuesday when his life takes a new, unsuspected turn. This time is not a tiny woman who brings the change, which is good as he doesn't appreciate much her explanations or her temper. However, it's still someone familiar as Kisuke is the one who does it. The ex-captain's got a penchant to mess with mind-shattering stuff and then include Ichigo in his planes without a by your leave. He's used to it by now. Or so he thought.

Still. Does he have to launch that weird paintball to his wall just to leave a message, again?

He glowers at the blood red paint slowly dripping on his wall but doesn't react in any other way. He simply waits for it to expand and show the message, hoping his dad is the one who sees this murder-scene-like message.

'Meet me at the store, immediately'

'PS. Your humor still sucks'

His eyebrow twitches.

"Doesn't look like a murder scene, my ass," he mutters with a defiant glare but does change from his pajamas to a more comfortable set of clothes. It's night so while he doesn't need to leave a message to his sisters that he's going to leave, he still does because he doesn't know when he will return and this month is supposed to be one to spend it with his family, not with whatever Kisuke wants him to deal with.

With a deep breath, he concentrates on the feeling of his reiatsu and jumps. He's used to the feeling of his reiatsu intimately, but it's still a bit difficult to use it while still wearing his body. In his spiritual form, it's as easy as breathing, but without it, it's... weird. Unlike his shinigami form, he feels the way his muscles ache at not doing any stretching before trying large jumps. It's not painful, just a bit uncomfortable as it is something he doesn't do often. The first times he couldn't even do a simple shunpo without breaking the floor he was standing on, but it's been almost a year since he started practicing, ever since Kisuker commented how he could do the same while wearing his gigai and rubbing it to his face. He's better now, if only so he could make the man eat his words.

He can summon his sealed sword, too, which is good but his body can't work with bankai without it hurting like hell. The human body was not meant to support that amount of spiritual pressure.

Not that it worries him; if he needs it, he can just ditch his body.

'You just jinxed it, king,' Zangetsu says with that creepy laugh of his.

"I did not," he says aloud, already close to his destination. It takes him two more jumps to reach the store. As soon as his feet touch the floor, the front door slides open. Kisuke standing is behind with his fan nowhere in sight.

"Finally arrived, I see. You're getting slower, Ichigo-kun."

Ichigo grumbles as he approaches, something along the lines of 'damned hat-wearing bastards' and 'not at your beck and call' leaving his lips. "You didn't even warn me, what I was supposed to do?"

The fan appears as the man lets him in inside the store. Its presence relaxing him. "My, my, Ichigo-kun, aren't we grumpy today? And I preparing you a gift for starting college."

He raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. "I started six months ago."

"Yes, well, you know how we old men are, always forgetting the important things."

"... Right."

With a roll of his eyes, he goes to the small living room. He takes the chance to glance at his surroundings, noting that anything hasn't changed, not that he expected it to change but it's been almost half a year since he went inside the store. When he reaches the small table, he sits on the tatami floor, legs crossed. "Well? What did you want to talk to me?"

The man sits in front of him, pulling out a paper from thin air. "As I said before, this is a gift, Ichigo-kun."

"Yeah, and I don't believe you," he answers back but accepts the paper. It's in English, something about a conference about diseases, in Stuttgart, Germany. There's also a ticket or something like that for a gala on a museum. It sounds interesting if he's honest with himself. Also, suspicious as fuck.

He looks at the date. "This thing is for tomorrow."

"Today, actually. It's already that late." He makes appear some other ticket the same way he appeared the other stuff. "Your plane goes out in two hours. Enough to take some clothes."

"If you're that sure that I'm going then you've got another one co-"

"Ichigo," Kisuke says, with that tone of voice that means that this is serious. His fan is nowhere to see again. It worries him and he tries to search for some reassurance in the man's eyes but he can't see his eyes because of the shadow of his hat. "It's a nice opportunity to broaden your horizons."

"Are we still doing this subtle manipulation shtick? Why you don't simply tell me what I'm needed for," Ichigo huffs, mostly for show as he tries to ignore the tightness on his chest at that thought. That they are going back to the old cloak and dagger stuff, hiding and not trusting.

Kisuke is silent for a moment, looking at him. The hat is still shading him but he can see how his gaze softens, eyes almost fond. He finally sighs, taking the hat off. "In this era of technology, I've many eyes around, Ichigo. I'd be surprised if something escaped my notice."

"Do you hear yourself when you talk? You sound like a creep, Kisuke," he says but there's a smile on his lips.

Kisuke smiles back, a real smile. It makes the tightness come back but this time is different. That thing about distance making the heart grow fonder? Seems to be true.

Of course, right when he thinks on how much he had missed this meddling old man, the show owner ruins it by looking down in what looks like exaggerated embarrassment. "Oh my, you flatter me, Ichigo-kun."

He rolls his eyes, exasperated. "Cut the crap. Tell me what's the problem."

Immediately, as if disregarding a cheap suit, Kisuke changes expression. Now, he's serious again.

"The Tesseract is a weapon of immeasurable power and it was stolen. I've a clue of what the thief is going to try to do as he needs a couple of things to accomplish his goals. And one of those things is iridium, which can be easily found in the gala you'll be attending."

Ichigo looks at the tickets. "And the conference?"

The fan is back.

"Why, to pass the time, of course!"

Ichigo punches him on the face. He's so satisfied to see his nose bleed, "No jokes, Kisuke!"

When he finishes nursing his nose, he adds. His voice coming out muffled. "What I said about being a gift is true."

"And how do you know he will appear at the gala and not before? Anyways, why are you involving yourself with all of this. I thought you were more interested in spiritual matters."

The blood disappears, his nose magically healed. "The thief is arrogant, he will want to make an entrance. And to answer your second question, well, that's complicated."

"Make it less complicated then."

Kisuke sighs, looking at him like he is a cute puppy bashing its head against a wall, repeatedly. It disturbs him. "The thief is not from this planet, Ichigo. And when I say that, I mean, he's from a world not connected to ours, unlike Hueco Mundo. The Tesseract is also an ancient object, or at least I'm sure it is. I'll need to study to confirm my theory."

"If it's so important, why am I the only one being debriefed?"

"Shinigami can't intervene in the deals of the living, you know this. But you're alive, aren't you? That's a nice loophole, don't you think so?"

So, it's something that has nothing to do with the Shinigami. He doesn't know if he should feel reassured or not at that blatant confirmation. He goes for no, because if Kisuke is trying to reassure him and that means this is no joke.

"That means if I should act it has to be in a way that doesn't involve Soul Society at all."

He sees one of his eyes twinkling in a creepy way. "How lucky you are, then. Being able to summon your zanpakuto at will even with your body running interference."

He narrows his eyes. He doesn't believe for a second that is luck. Most likely Kisuke knew something was going to happen. After all, he was the one that mentioned the idea to him. "Yeah, lucky. Don't you think this luck of mine will make you talk a bit more, do you?"

He receives an enigmatic smile in return, one that says 'What would be the fun in that?'

He knows him too well. So, with a sigh, he says, "Two hours, huh?"

"Yup!"

And the fan is back, again.

This is going to be a long day, isn't it?

The conference goes well, suspiciously enough. He's tense as a bowstring all the time, ready to attack at the slightest provocation. It makes it hard to enjoy or learn anything but he manages to pay enough attention to learn a couple things. The gala is next and that too goes well, too. It's more of an exposition which makes it less awkward for him as the best clothes he brought were enough to pass as formal. A simple white dress shirt and a pair of slacks.

Things turn less pleasant when the commotion starts. He calls it a commotion because that's how it begins. A man is the one who screams first, a woman coming next, both yelling for someone to call an ambulance.

Ichigo runs towards the sound as panic spreads, hand going to his spiritual phone, the one which thanks to Kisuke can make calls from everywhere free of charge. Thankfully, the number for ambulance is always the same as it always configures itself depending of the place. His German is non-existent so he hopes they speak in English.

He receives an answer just in time to see what's all about. The spirit he sees close to the body of a man lying on the floor tells him they won't be of much use but he still explains the problem. Luckily the lady on the phone understands him. Not so luckily, someone died on his watch and that's inexcusable.

Looking around he realizes there's no other injured person on sight, which just means he needs to locate the culprit. He thinks of first scanning the place to investigate if there is a path of spirits that could lead him to the killer, but it's easier than that. There's a great number of spirits, all congregated on someone alive and walking.

For a brief moment he considers ditching his body but it's only a fleeting thought. Shinigami can't involve themselves on the affairs of human as Kisuke has told him and while he also knows it'll be almost impossible to find someone to believe him when he points to the killer… well, he's never said he's stopped being reckless.

He's again running but this time he's going outside. And this time it's worse. There's no panic but it's mostly because everyone is paralyzed in fear, there's a miasma of pressure surrounding the place not unlike killing intent that has made everyone stop in place. A small group of people are kneeling, all in front of the... man.

No, he's not a man. Kisuke said he's an alien. And he can see what he meant. Not because of his strange clothes and helmet, but for his reiatsu. It's different, dense like a shinigami's but not. His spiritual ribbon is a whitish blue with hints of gold, which is a first.

If he were Kisuke, he would be curious, intrigued of this new specie.

He's not, so the only thing he has to worry about is controlling his anger. Because that's what he feels right now.

He doesn't know what this alien is saying as he can't hear him well but he can see the fearful looks of those around him. He's thinking in how to approach the situation in a way that won't reveal his powers when an old man stands up, posture defiant in a way it's painfully familiar to look at.

The horn-guy is lifting up a scepter, pointing at the old man's direction, energy rolling off of its tip in preparation of an attack. He's thinking 'fuck it all', ready to shunpo when he senses another presence falling down to protect the old man. A circular blue and red shield stops the attack. A man dressing oddly is the one behind it.

It takes him a moment to realize the uniform he's wearing is a Captain America outfit. Which is… well.

He shakes his head.

Not the time.

Some type of plane comes down and a feminine voice comes out of it, "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

So the guy's name is Loki, he briefly thinks as he sees the bastard shot at the plane a type of energy he's unfamiliar with. The Captain-dude starts attacking at the same time and a battle between both of them starts. It gives the people around the chance to escape and they take it, running out in clear fright.

It makes his choice clear.

Making sure there are no cameras near, he cloaks his body with a thin layer of reiatsu. It's a perfect technique for him because it doesn't need control, just a stupid amount of power which he has in spades. it'll make him disappear for a couple seconds, enough for what he wants. However, the spike of energy seems to have brought the attention of Loki as he turns his head to his direction. Luckily for Ichigo, he's already on the sky thanks to a reitasu-powered jump.

Before he can get a good look at him, the Captain-dude takes the opportunity to ram his shield on the other's chest, distracting him away from him. Taking advantage of that, Ichigo holds a hand on top of his face in a claw-like fashion and pulls out his hollow mask.

The brief pulse of energy that comes out, and he still can't control, makes everyone stop, probably in surprise, before he can rein the amount of power output from the technique.

The layer of reiatsu covering his body shatters like glass because of it.

Taking out zangetsu's sealed sword, Ichigo goes to where Loki is pressing his scepter on the head of Captain dude and parries it away. It makes Loki back off, no quite tumbling back. Ichigo presses the lack of footing with a slash to his torso but the other is capable enough to block it.

He doesn't seem surprised by his strength as he thinks he should be, oddly enough, but that doesn't deter Ichigo. He pushes him back with the flat of his sword and follows with another strike.

That's when the music starts.

He's for a second caught flat-footed but he recovers quickly enough to slash the body behind him. It ends being an illusion. Without a glance back, he blocks another attack, annoyed. He hates illusions.

Then iron man appears in all his red and gold glory, surprising Loki with a blast of energy coming out his hands. Ichigo uses that chance to use Hado #1: Sho. He tries using the least amount of energy possible to it as he doesn't want to overpower it and break his arms but it seems that he still uses too much as the alien's arms snap sharply to his back, a painful grunt escaping him.

"Oops," he breaths out, placing Zangetsu on his sheath.

(He has a sheath now. A year has passed since it first appeared and it still weirds him out.)

"Nice moves there. What did you say that was your name?" Iron man aka Anthony Stark says. It makes him turn around to have a better look of the man.

"I didn't say," Ichigo answers, his voice coming garbled and echoing as it always does when he's using his mask. The sound is foreboding, instantly creeping out whoever that hears it. Ironman acts like others who hears it for the first time. That is, by stepping back, hands up in a way that makes clear he's prepared to attack.

Ichigo lips twitch behind the mask in amusement.

"That's a... nice voice you've got there. Did you create it?"

There's honest curiosity in his mechanical voice so he most likely thinks Ichigo's own voice is made like his own.

"No. It's natural."

"Natural, right, buddy. I'm Tony Stark, by the way. Call me Tony."

Before the other can say more, a voice calls out. "Stark."

Stark tilts his head in the direction of captain-dude, his eyes never leaving his though. "I'm making friends here, capsicle. All good on your side of things?"

"Agent Romanoff is taking care of things." Captain-dude never lowers his shield from his side, but he at least holds his hand out for him. "I'm captain Steve Rogers, son. And you are...?"

He thinks about it. He's not that reckless to reveal his name but he doesn't know how to introduce himself either. He's a lot of things. So while inwardly shrugging, he takes his hand and gives it a shake. "I'm a Vizard. Nice to meet you."

"No name then?" Asks Stark while Rogers mutters with narrowed eyes, "Vizard?"

"I don't think I'm allowed to disclose more," says Ichigo looking around, at the people that are slowly surrounding him with phones out, cameras registering everything. He shakes his head. "I should go, but..."

He looks at the man still trapped in his hadou. If he can be called man. His reiatsu is completely different to what he's used to. Not to mention the color of his ribbon. "He's not human," he ends up saying.

Steve's eyes sharpen. "How do you know that?"

He shrugs, trying to find a way to explain reiatsu without saying the word. "His... spiritual energy is odd. Alien."

Now it's Tony the one giving him an odd look. "Spiritual energy, huh?"

"His soul is denser, different texture, color. Others would know how to better explain it."

A petite, deadly woman walks close. "Rogers, Stark. We need to go." She then looks at him. "You should come, too. The director wants to talk to you."

He shouldn't go. He knows shinigami don't mess with the affairs of the living for a reason. A good reason.

… He doesn't remember the reason.

Not that it matters much. He's alive and he's given up his substitute shinigami title. He's not involved in shinigami matters, anymore. Not until he dies, at least.

He glances at the plane, the one containing Loki and thinks of all the souls still following the man around, filled with rage and a step away from turning into Hollows.

Looking at the woman, agent Romanoff, he nods. "I'll go."

Tony pats his back. "Good to have you, smiles."

* * *

A/N: What's this? Another story? You bet your ass. Though it's mostly a plot bunny. I only have two chapters done, so. If someone wants to adopt it, I'm game.


	2. Chapter 2

Ichigo shakes his head but follows them, walking behind Loki. The pained moans of the souls around him are distracting but he's lived with that for years now. It's not a problem, though he admits the plane is a little too small for him and all the souls. He still ends up choosing the seat in front of Loki. If only to make sure the hado doesn't end. The alien looks relaxed, but he still shows signs of struggling, at least he's sure he does, going on by the slight twitch of his muscles every couple of seconds.

"So what did you do to reindeer games?" asks Tony. Loki doesn't move from where he's looking at the floor but he can feel his attention turn to the conversation as if it were a physical touch.

"It's an incantation," Ichigo says after mussing his answer for a while. He decides to be as honest as he can considering he still sucks at lying. "It makes him unable to move or use his powers."

Tony snorts. "Incantation, as in magic?"

"Something like that," says Ichigo with a shrug. "Though they're called demon arts. It's not simple magic anyone can use."

"… Right," he says with an excessive amount of skepticism.

At least Steve is diplomatic about this new situation. "So that's what a vizard is? A magician? A wizard, perhaps?"

Ichigo looks at Steve for long seconds, thinking of Hayori putting out a rabbit out a hat. He scratches the back of his head deciding what to reveal. "I'm not allowed to say much, but I think I can tell you that my kind is the one supposed to help the dead pass on, among other things," he says, turning to look at Loki who is now looking directly at him in surprise. "That's how I found you, actually, there is a great number of lost souls using yours as an anchor."

"Mine, you say? I don't sense anything." Loki says for the first time, his voice coming out smooth despite everything. He's not skeptic of his words, simply curious and slightly knowing. It weirds him out.

"That's what you ask? That means you believe me then."

Loki doesn't roll his eyes, probably considering it too beneath him. What he does is give him a condescending look, not unlike the one Byakuya once wore.

Tony says something else, but Ichigo's distracted. The direction of his gaze is on something behind Loki, a soul very close to becoming a hollow. He's a dark-haired male with a stylish haircut and a weird mole on his neck. He tilts his head, listening to his sobs as he scratches his chest feeling the pain of his chain becoming shorter. He wants to comfort him but he knows he will be ignored at this stage.

Then Tony's hand rests on his shoulder. It doesn't startle him but it makes his hand rest on his hip, where Zangetsu is. "Hey."

"Sorry. It's just—" He debates on telling the truth before mentally shrugging. "There are the souls of the ones he's killed behind him. It's distracting. They're..." Ichigo shakes his head, his terrifying voice sounding sad.

Steve's is the one who asks, "Souls?"

The vizard nods, already thinking in ways for them to not think he's crazy. A plan in mind, he takes out Zangetsu from where it's resting against his waist. They all tense but don't act as Zangetsu is still on his sheath. He turns the handle until the tip of the buttcap is pointing to Loki's direction. He then presses it against the forehead of one of the souls, the one with the shortest chain.

As always, his output of reiatsu is difficult to handle while he's wearing his body so he uses a bit too much. The energy washes against the face of the soul, making it blue and slightly visible for a moment. The man gasps when his reiatsu touches him, the rage on his face slipping out into something softer. He then closes his eyes and disappears in a flutter of brilliant specks to the sky. He doesn't know what the others see, but he's sure they at least saw the first part. He's a tad ashamed by the mistake but he's glad his lack of control finally served for something. Besides, the people surrounding him doesn't know what faux pas he committed so he won't lose sleep over it.

Shrugging as if it was his intention all along for them to see him perform the konso, he bullshits like Kisuke taught him, "As I said, we help the souls chained to the world of the living to move on."

He turns around to give them a glance, noticing the blank expression on Tony's face with some amusement. He seems to be unable to process what he's just seen. Romanoff's face is just as closed off but he can see she's a bit shaken, though. She clearly knew the man. Her gaze doesn't drift to her again but he can see the slight tense shoulders from his peripheral vision. Steve is the one who worries him. He looks as if he wants to badly ask something but doesn't want to really know.

What really surprises him is the way Loki looks at him. Intense and calculating. He doesn't say anything even though Ichigo hoped he would be a bit creeped out by the idea of having souls around him.

"You work for Death, then?"

He's so glad he's wearing a mask as Loki doesn't catch his confused expression. The emphasis he put in the word Death means he's talking about an entity, a someone. He knows that Soul Society is an autonomous organization even with the Soul King being their, well, king. But do they work for some kind of entity? He really doesn't know.

Better not let them know that though.

"I'm not allowed to reveal much."

There, that should be enough. Besides, it's kind of true.

"It can't be," Stark mutters. Ichigo raises an eyebrow behind his mask but before he can snark back Stark quickly adds, "If all the... 'souls' need someone like you and that little show happened to everyone, people would know. It's impossible for no one to not have noticed."

Oh, crap.

Ichigo scratches the back of his head. "The light happens when one uses too much power."

Romanoff is on him as soon as the words are said, weakness clearly forgotten. "You can't control your power."

Well, not very well, but he isn't going to tell them that. Luckily, his mentor was Kisuke and even if he still can't lie like the man, he can at least somewhat bullshit his way through. Somewhat. "Wearing a body makes difficult to perform a couple things and I'm more powerful than most reapers are at my age."

Not need to mention that what he was trying to perform was one of the simplest things.

"You're possessing someone?"

He shakes his head as he looks at Rogers. "No, this body is mine."

"Yours?" Says Stark. "You mentioned that your people were some kind of spirits so that means your people are capable of making a perfect human body or you're alive. Which is it?"

Ichigo visibly swallows. Damn smart people. "I'm not allowed to reveal—"

"Then what you're allowed to reveal, smiley?"

"Nothing. I'm not even supposed to be here. My kind doesn't meddle with the affairs of the living. Well, they're not supposed to," he adds, remembering Rukia.

"But you did," says Rogers ignoring Tony's remark of 'living?', body leaning towards him. "Why?"

Ichigo looks at the souls hovering above Loki, anger and despair written across their faces. He sighs, as if a weight has been settled on his shoulders. He starts performing konso to the others souls, perfecting the trick on the third try, making it invisible to all but him. Only then he answers. "There are few humans who can hear the dead, those who can _see_ and touch them are even less. You can't understand what it is to see their tortured expressions and hear their wails all the time. I can do something about it so I do it before it's too late."

"… Too late?"

Ichigo shakes his head, not sure if he should start talking about hollows of all things when there's a megalomaniac hearing everything he says. He intends to say 'later' but the sound of thunder interrupts his musings, especially when the sound makes Loki warily look up.

"What's the matter," asks Steve, turning away from him, "Scared of a little lightning?"

Loki slowly looks at him, his gaze knowing. "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

As soon as he finishes talking there's a thud coming from the ceiling of the plane. Everyone looks up. Turbulence follows the next lightning and Steve grabs his shield while Stark puts on once again his helmet. Ichigo simple grabs the handle of Zangetsu, ready for any attack.

Unsurprisingly, Stark is the one to open the door that leads to the exit.

Steve looks up from where he's adjusting his own costume. "What are you doing?"

Another thud, but this time the sound comes with a person: someone is standing on the open door. Ichigo can see the color of his ribbon being gold, like Loki's but brighter and without the hint of whitish blue. He at least doesn't have any souls hovering around him.

Tony holds up a hand, ready to blast the newcomer but he receives a hammer to the chest for his troubles. The strength behind it sends him back to the other end of the plane. He swiftly grabs Loki's neck but Ichigo takes a hold of his wrist, holding him in place. "You can't have him. He needs to answers for his crimes."

The alien growls, "You have not idea what you are dealing with."

"Shakespeare in the Park?" Stark says from where he's standing up. He dusts his shoulders before making a pose. "Doth Mother knows you weareth her drapes?"

Ichigo wants to deck him on the head, luckily the insult flies over the other man's head. "Listen, metal man, Loki will face Asgardian justice."

His grip on Loki tightens and then he's throwing his hammer at him. Ichigo grabs it, covering his skin with blut vene but even with that help he can feel his bones vibrate and his muscles tear. Ichigo doesn't let him go, though.

"Nice try, big guy," he hisses, pain lacing his tone.

"Listen," Steve says as he approaches, both hands held up. "Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here but-"

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes."

"Then prove it." His hands going down, he adds in a commanding voice, "put the hammer down."

Ichigo eyeballs him but that seems to be a bad move as he's soon being thrown a couple steps away thanks to a bolt of lightning. He shakes his burnt hand, his vision momentarily strained because of the light. "Even I could have told you that was a bad idea!"

He feels more than sees the alien let go of Loki and scream, "You want me to put my hammer down?!"

Ichigo can't see but he's able to sense the Asgardian thanks to his dense reiatsu. Ichigo steps up between them. "Wait! Listen, here. I don't know what Loki has done to Asgard but here he's committed crimes, too. You can't simply take him."

"Besides, we need him to find the tesseract," Tony adds unhelpfully.

Ichigo ignores Tony and glares at the alien, focusing his spiritual pressure on him. The weight falls on everyone but it's mostly on the alien. His knees buckle but he doesn't go down completely. The plane falls a little bit as the pilot strains with the power. The man looks at him with disbelief clear on his features. So his point done, Ichigo reins his power once more.

"So, are we going to talk like rational beings, here or not?"

Now that he can see somehow, he watches the wary look the alien gives him. He then shakes his head, as if to get rid of his dark thoughts. The alien nods at him with a small smile. "I'm Thor, son of Odin, reaper."

"Reaper?" asks Tony but Ichigo ignores him. He cradles his injured hand as he waits for his regeneration to kick in—one of the perks of being part hollow—as he tilts his head to the side, knowing his confusion wouldn't show thanks to his mask.

"I'm not a reaper," he says, wondering how these aliens know about them. Probably something he doesn't want to know but needs to anyways.

"Are you not? It is true you do not wear the garbs my people associate with your kind but one can't deny your power. The use of spiritual energy only belongs to the dead."

Well, that's not true, but no way is he going to reveal more than it's been revealed.

"That still doesn't mean I'm a Soul Reaper just that I have the powers of one. I'm a vizard." And because the cat's out of the bag, he adds, "… A vizard is a soul reaper that has endured a certain progress called hollowfication."

"Hollowfication, you say," murmurs Thor. "The Alltongue all Asgardians use doesn't translate that word."

Ichigo throws a glance at the others

"Soul reaper?"

"Yeah. The name's pretty self-explanatory, I think."

Steve shakes his head. "I'm sorry for before. You'll come with us, though? We can talk about what we're going to do there."

"... Yes, I think I will."

Ichigo let out a relieved breath. Though he became wary when Thor turns to him. "Though I would like to know more about this hollowfication process."

"Er, sure, why not? I mean I can't explain much, but-"

A loud beep interrupts him from continuing. Sensing the vibration coming on from his pocket he takes out the cellphone Kisuke gave him, knowing it must be the man calling as his is the only number recorded. The display is the same of a normal phone, but when he takes the call the voice doesn't come from the phone but from everywhere.

"Hello, Ichigo-kun!"

He tilts his head away, the voice coming out loud. He turns around, hoping no one heard his name being called but he's surprised to notice no one has heard him. "What the Hell...?"

"I called you to stop you from giving too much information. We must not forget there's a criminal a couple feet away from you, you know."

He looks at the phone, pressing it close to his ear, before turning it around. "Where's your voice coming from, bastard?"

"Well, that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?"

"It's not coming from my mask... I think," he murmurs.

"Oh no, though that would have been easier, I admit."

"How it would be easier, it's literally a part of me-wait, no. Don't answer that." He hears amused humming and the way the sound reverberates makes something click. "It's inside my mind. You're speaking inside my mind. What the Hell?"

"Amazing, Ichigo-kun! I thought it would take longer, but-"

"Crap. Can you hear what I'm thinking, then? Ugh, have you created something that can read minds? No, wait. You obviously created something that reads minds, you creep."

"Ouch. That hurts, Ichi-"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I understand," and with that said he hangs up. It's only a second of consideration later that he points a finger at Tony. "I hope you aren't the type of genius I know of."

He doesn't think Tony can hear him. He hasn't taken his eyes away from the phone. "Accepts calls from one's mind you said? Can I play with it?"

He feels a bit vindictive but it still isn't enough to give Kisuke's tech to someone else. "You should speak with the guy first. Maybe someday I'll introduce you."

"Awesome."

* * *

A/N: Comments feed my poor poor soul. And my muse too.


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